News-Ledger Wednesday, June 8, 2016 Page 1
NEWS-LEDGER West Sacramento
Entire Contents Copyright News-Ledger 2016
USPS 388-320
35 cents
Serving the West Sacramento Region Since 1964
52nd Year No. 41
Local Scene See what’s going on. Calendar on page 9
Comics & Puzzles
Page 7
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
POLICE LOG
San Pedro Festa: The Portuguese Picnic to return to Bryte on June ANNOUNCING ……. 25 Founded in 1922, the San Pedro Association will be celebrating 94 years the weekend of June 25-26 with its annual Festa. This free event is open to the public and will feature traditional Madeiran/Portuguese food, live entertainment, games, and a parade. The San Pedro Festa will be held at San Pedro Park, 708 N. Hobson Ave. On Saturday, June 25 from 5 to 9 p.m. the Festa will feature the band “Thunder Cover”, the crowning of the Festa Queens (Senior Queen, Julyana Lara and Baby Queen, Jessenia Velez both of West Sacramento), and traditional Madeiran/ Portuguese Food. Then, on Sunday, June 26 from 11a.m. – 5 p.m. there will be a 9 a.m. Mass at Holy Cross, followed by a parade at 10 a.m. from the church, live Music by “Bob Rawleigh”, as
well as a silent Auction, games, and traditional Madeiran/Portuguese Food. If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Alicia Sequeira Smith at 916-524-9532 or email at aliciasequeira@yahoo. com. On Sunday, the parade details are as follows: It begins at 10 a.m. after Mass at Holy Cross church, 1321 Anna St. (corner of Anna and Todhunter) and proceeds on Anna to Bryte Avenue (right) , then left on Lisbon and ends at San Pedro Park, 708 North Hobson Street. The parade includes the grand marshal, three floats: St. Peter, St. Isabella (Queen of Portugal) and the baby angels, and Our Lady of Fatima and the three children of Fatima; the carrying of the statute of St. Peter with the Holy Cross Knights of
Columbus Honor Guard; visiting queens and their flags; antique cars; Sacramento Youth Band; San Pedro Queens; and the West Sacramento Fire Department and Police Department. This year’s grand marshal is Manuel Lira, past San Pedro Association Officer, born in Madeira Island and resident of West Sacramento. What follows is a question and answer with Alicia Sequeira Smith regarding the Festa and its cultural importance. News-Ledger: Tell me about the importance of the event: Alicia Sequeira Smith: The San Pedro Annual Festa began in 1922 as a result of a monument that was built on Madeira Island in honor of Our Blessed Mother. The monument is called “Torreiro da Luta” and is dedicated to “Our Lady of
Peace” or in Portuguese Broderick) of his ambi2016 San Pedro tions. FestaAfter Queens hearing this “Nossa Senhora da Paz”. formed a committee The priest that initiated Seniorthey Queen to have the project was Reverend Julyana Laraa Festa in honor of St. andLara the proFather Jardim. He came Daughter of Michael andPeter Frances to California to visit two ceeds helped pay down debt. Father Jardim brothers and a sister who Babythe Queen lived in the Sacramen- performed the first Mass Jessenia Velez to area. While he was after which all gathered Daughter of John and Eyvette Velez here, he asked for dona- together under a large tions to help pay the oak Both Queens are from Westfor Sacramento (Bryte)tree and a for long a linebarbeque of San Pedro Association They the great–great nieces$600 of Antonio P. Pinto (Uncle and the proceeds shrine. members. The debt atarethat Tony), one of the founding members of the San Pedro Association, and the great went helpThey pay the timeof Alyce wasand$100,000.00. nieces Camilo Cervantes, past Board to Member. are the Granddaughters of Daniel arrived and Christine debt. Velez, San Pedro that Members. From day on, Father Jardim in California in May, the Festa of San Pedro 1922 and told the Por- has always been celetuguese community in See Bryte, page 10 Riverbank (Bryte and
WTA representatives say the district’s funding has increased more than enough to afford more competitive pay raises By Daniel Wilson dwilson@dwilsononline.com At a recent school board meeting, several attendees were disallowed to speak about concerns over a current contract dispute between the Washington Unified School District and the Washington Teacher’s Association union, according to President of the WTA Don Stauffer. Stauffer explained that the focus of the dispute is that, despite the district receiving a more than 14 percent increase in funding this year, the teachers are being offered a 2 percent increase, which would set the teachers in this district behind comparable districts in the area in terms of average yearly salary. “It’s our contention that that raise is too small, given the increase in funding that the schools are getting,” Stauffer said. While Stauffer couldn’t give an exact amount for the increase the WTA is seeking because of a confidentiality agreement, he stated the union is seeking an increase that is more
on the level of surrounding districts. “Because of the recession, we went a number of years without any salary increase at all,” said Stauffer. “We’ve done well the last couple of years, but the school district has done even better. The context is that if we were the only district around, maybe that would be OK, but what’s happening is that we’re falling behind the pay that’s offered by districts in the neighboring area, including Sacramento County and related areas.” Stauffer added that good teachers are being lost by WUSD to surrounding districts because of higher pay. “A lot of teachers have young kids,” said Stauffer. “With the cost of childcare, even if you’ve got a nice place to work, they may be thinking about, “Well, I could use that extra money.’ ” The district website’s negotiation update FAQ disputes this, stating a statewide teacher shortage and saying, any “open positions are due to a combination of retirements, resignations, and leaves of absence. To
date, no resigning teachers have reported that they are leaving due to more competitive compensation packages offered in other districts.” Administrator of Communication and Community Outreach for the Washington Unified School District Giorgos Kazanis said that because mediation—which began May 20, according to the district website—is currently ongoing, the law, “prohibits both sides from discussing the details of negotiations with any parties outside the negotiating teams.” Kazanis addressed the concerns of the teacher’s union with a statement. “The Washington Unified School District is deeply committed to recruiting and retaining a high-quality workforce focused on student success,” said the statement. “We believe that our employees deserve the very best compensation for their tireless efforts in the classroom and on our school campuses—it is also our fiduciary responsibility to ensure that we are able to sustain and maintain district-wide
programs while providing the financial stability needed to support future pay increases, benefits and pensions for our employees.” Aside from the salary dispute, class sizes are also a concern for the WTA, but Stauffer said if the salary issue is resolved, the union will quickly wrap up negotiations regarding any other issues. Whether or not this dispute would lead to a strike is something Stauffer said is always on the table, following a series of other steps that would have to take place beforehand, but that the teachers are mostly interested in coming to an agreement so that they can get back to educating the city’s youth. “As the representative for teachers in West Sacramento, we just want to get this thing done and move on,” said Stauffer. “If things don’t get resolved, (a strike) is where it could go. Trust me, I do not want to see that. Our primary interest is our students and we’d like to be focusing our attention on our students.”
Page 6
YOLOBUS Launches Yolobus Alert On Wednesday, June 1, all Yolobus riders will be able to subscribe to real time text alerts for the routes that they ride every day. Due to the upturn in the economy, traffic has increased in the Sacramento Region and bus riders need to know if their regular daily bus is going to be late due to traffic or some other reason so they can notify family, their places of employment and their dentist if the bus is going to be late. Like many transit services, Yolobus has employed technology that enables riders to user their smart phones to track their bus to see what time it will arrive. Yolobus uses Yolobus LIVE, a mobile website located at http://avl.yolobus. com to see where the bus is on a given bus route in real time. Yolobus LIVE is a more advanced tool and requires a smart phone with a robust cellular connect. Yolobus Alert, is a simple textbased alert that a rider can subscribe to on any cellular phone. A rider can select one or more routes and if their bus is late, a short text message will alert them within a few minutes. Yolobus Alert can be found on the home page of Yolobus at www.yolobus.com . “This is a great tool for our riders. It takes all the guess work out of figuring out if and why a bus is late. All of our riders can use this tool.” Harold Anderson, Chair, Yolo County Transportation District and Councilman from the City of Winters. Yolobus Alert was developed by Trandev, Inc., the company that operates Yolobus on behalf of the Yolo County Transportation District. Transdev has deployed this tool effectively in a number of transit properties throughout the Country. “Our riders asked for this service and we have delivered an effective tool that can be used for all bus routes throughout the Yolobus System” – Carmen Alba, General Manager – Transdev Yolo. The Yolo County Transportation District administers YOLOBUS, which operates local and intercity bus service 365 days a year in Yolo County and neighboring areas. YOLOBUS serves Davis, West Sacramento, Winters, Woodland, downtown Sacramento, Sacramento International Airport, Cache Creek Casino Resort, Esparto, Madison, Dunnigan and Knights Landing. As an added convenience for our riders, Yolobus makes connections with other local public transportation systems. With connections to Unitrans and Fairfield-Suisun Transit in Davis, and Regional Transit and Light Rail in Sacramento, you have a wide range of options.